The Bridge of Friendship
by SpectrumRay16
Summary: A short story about the formation of the three misfits and their quest to find the missing princesses Elizabeth and Veronica Liones. The three misfits must undergo trials of wit, strength and willpower in order to complete their mission and they also require the assistance of an unlikely ally.
1. Gilthunder's Mission

Since early this morning the princesses Elizabeth and Veronica had been missing and countless groups of knights were sent by the king to scour Liones for any trace of his daughters. A small boy, close to ten years old, overheard the dilemma and decided he too would search for the princesses. His name was Gilthunder, son of the great holy knight Zaratras, and was regarded as a clever boy who excelled at being a knight in-training. However, with a power level of 297 he could only do so much by himself, knowing this he was forced to find a group of individuals willing enough to help him find the missing princesses. Although, his motives seemed pure, he secretly believed this would score him more points with the King's eldest daughter, Margaret. With that thought in mind, a smile appeared on his face and his cheeks grew bright red. He had always liked Margaret and had asked Meliodas, the captain of the seven deadly sins, to teach him about woman, which led to varied results. Nonetheless he was prepared to face this trial and then his crush. He walked around the castle searching for knights interested in helping him. He found Threader and Hugo, the king's bodyguards and believed they would help him out.

* * *

Gil: "Hey Threader, I want to help too, but… by myself I'm not sure I can do it. So please… could you come with me to find the princesses"

Threader: "No can do Gilthunder, I must remain here and protect the king. I am always prepared for trouble and Hugo over there will give you the same answer as I, we cannot leave the King's side."

Gil: "That's a bummer… do you know of anyone that could help me?"

Threader: "Some of the recruit bodyguards might help you, their names are: Jillian, Simon and Weinhedit."

Gil: "Thanks Threader!"

Gilthunder rushed towards the training ground, as Threader looked onwards with glee. He knew the boy's reasons for the mission and found his actions spoke volumes about how much he liked Margaret. Upon clearing his head, he prepared himself for any threat, looked out of the window and saw Gil talking to the recruits. They all told him they were busy training and needed to remain in the kingdom. Gil sighed and kept searching for other people he could potentially ask. He found Dreyfus and Hendrickson, at the bottom of a hill, planning where they would search next. He approached both the knights and with the utmost respect asked them about their plans and if they could help him out. Gilthunder needed to know if the seven deadly sins were in the kingdom and Dreyfus was someone who would know the answer to that.

Gil: "Uncle Dreyfus, Hendrickson… do you know if the seven deadly sins are in the kingdom?"

Hendy: "I believe that most of them went on a mission recently to protect one of the northern kingdoms. They will be gone for at least another six hours. Although, there are two sins currently in the kingdom: the Goat's sin of lust, Gowther, and… one of the others.

Gil: "Are you referring to the Lion's sin of Pride, Escanor?" Gilthunder asked, questioning Hendrickson's sudden change of tone.

Hendy: "Yes… I was… but, it would be best not to ask him for help." He continued seeming scared at the thought.

Gil: "Okay… fine, I guess I'll look for someone else to help me find the princesses." He said, disappointed. Dreyfus patted him on the shoulder and suggested someone to help him.

Dreyfus: "You remind me of your father when we were kids. If you want somebody to help you, then maybe you should ask your cousin, Griamor. He too has been looking for the princesses, specifically Veronica, and he would appreciate the help. You know he is a bit of a cry baby.

Gil: "Thanks uncle Dreyfus! I'll go look for him now." Said Gilthunder with a smile on his face, he finally had someone to help him out.

He was halfway up the grassy hill when he realized he had forgotten to ask where Griamore was. He tripped and rolled down the hill, back towards the two knights. Hendrickson chuckled as Gilthunder got to his feet. A fallen tree branch had been lodged in his hair and his clothes were a mess.

Gil: "I forgot to ask… where is Griamore?"

Dreyfus *laughing* "He is near Merlin's research tower, in the western part of the kingdom."

Gil nervously laughed, apologized and thanked his uncle and Hendrickson and this time successfully made his way up the hill.

* * *

Next chapter: Griamore


	2. Griamore's Attitude

Walking towards the western district Gilthunder remembered as much as he could about Griamore. He had never been that close to his cousin and usually laughed at how Princess Veronica treated him. He was a very submissive person who cried a lot. He was similar to his mother, a kind soul, who simply wanted to be happy. When confronted with a challenge he would run away or curl up into a ball and cry. He was… not the bravest of people. Gil also remembered that Griamore was incredibly bad a sword fights, never managing to beat Gil once. He also thought of his ability "Wall" as being fairly boring, nevertheless he had to push that aside and make amends with his cousin.

* * *

He arrived at the tower, to which Dreyfus had directed him, only to find Griamore sobbing on one of the steps. He walking over to his teary-eyed cousin, but, before he could ask why he was sobbing Griamore let out a hell bent screech.

Griamore: "WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Gil: "Could you please not do that when I'm so close to you! Jeez, I thought I was going to go deaf."

Griamore: *sniff* *sob* "Sorry, Gil… it's just that… princess… Veronica… missing…" *sob* *sniff*

Gil: "Yeah, I know I'm looking for people to help me find her and Elizabeth… do you want to help me?"

Griamore: "What good am I to you?" *sniff* "I'd just get in your way or get caught…" *sob*

Gil: "Aren't you a knight in-training of Liones? You should honour that title and stand up for what is right. We might be kids, but, we still have duties to perform… so please come with me and together we will find the princesses." He stated, however, inner Gil was frustrated with how spineless his cousin was.

Griamore: "Really?" *sniff*

Gil: "Really!" he said, lowering his hand down to Griamore, whose face had brightened up after hearing his cousin's kind words.

Griamore: "Then… together we will find Princess Veronica!" he yelled

Gil: "Princess Elizabeth is also missing, you know." he corrected

Griamore: "WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTT!"

Gil quickly began regretting his decision of bringing Griamore along, a power level of 150 and a cowardly attitude were not going to help him out much. However, he still needed to find other people willing to help him. So he decided to look at the barracks training grounds where all the knight in-training were training and potentially some of the holy knights that were off duty might help as well.

 _ **In a ravine, outside of the kingdom:**_

Two girls lay on the bottom of a large ravine. The ravine was not deep enough for a fatal fall; however, it was steep enough so that the girls could not get out. The older of the two girls had broken her ankle and the younger one was crying over her, in an attempt to wake her up. These two girls were the missing princesses of Liones and they were trapped and running out of energy quickly.

* * *

Next chapter: The broken bridge


	3. The Tattered Bridge

**Six hours ago…**

Princess Elizabeth and Veronica were following the seven deadly sins on their mission to a northern kingdom. The sins had decided to walk, as they were required to be at the northern kingdom in two days. The captain, Meliodas, decided he did not want to waste an entire day there doing nothing and wanted to stop by an inn on the way there, so they traveled on foot. The curious princess, Veronica, had convinced her sister to accompany her and the plan was going smoothly until the sins arrived at the ravine. They saw a tattered old bridge, impossible for many of the sins to cross, especially in armor. The sins decided to make their own way across. King and Merlin floated over and Diane walk across the gap, all whilst Ban and Meliodas competed against each other to see who could cross the old bridge without it breaking. Meliodas lost the bet and therefore allowed Ban to go across first. The sin of greed ran across the bridge as quickly as possible, not giving it enough opportunity to break under the full weight of his armor. He turned to face his captain and started pulling faces.

* * *

Ban: "Your turn, captain… If you can cross the bridge by only walking across it, you win!" he said in a song like manner

Meliodas: "I won't lose to you Ban." he exclaimed.

Seconds later Meliodas was walking across the bridge, carefully placing one foot after another, avoiding the large gaps in the bridge and making sure he remained calm. He managed to cross the old bridge as well, in a stressful manner, which made Ban laugh and forced him to concede victory to his captain. The sins regrouped and left for the inn, without realizing they were being watched by the two princesses. The princesses waited a few minutes until the sins were out of sight, then Veronica muster up her courage and chose to cross the gorge.

Veronica: "If they can do it with armor on, we can cross the bridge too." She declared, making her way to the bridge.

Elizabeth: "Veronica… I'm scared… what if it breaks whilst we're on it?" she cried, hoping her sister would reconsider.

Veronica: "Don't be such a scardy-cat… you'll remind me of Griamore…"

Elizabeth: "…" her plea was noted and ignored… although she would later realize she was right.

They both made it to the bridge, Elizabeth holding on to her sister tightly as they traversed over the steep ravine. They found themselves half-way across the bridge before they heard a loud snap. The bridge was suddenly tilting on an angle. The boards on either side of them began to snap in half and after looking down at the supports, they realized that the years of neglect the bridge had suffered led to the tension in the support being incredibly high. Although within mere seconds of the first snap a second snap was heard and the bridge was turned upside down. Both princesses were hanging from the planks, legs dangling and below a 20 foot drop. The walls were steep and there would be no way out if they fell, they could only wait for help to arrive. They waited like this, for 15 minutes until the middle of the bridge gave way and Veronica fell into the ravine. Elizabeth fell shortly after on top off Veronica which caused her to be unharmed from the fell.

Veronica's leg had been badly damaged and she was in an intense amount of pain. She cried out in agony as Elizabeth began balling her eyes out. She had no idea what was going to happen to them and her feared had risen to new levels. Veronica tried to reassure her, but, fainted from the pain… leaving Elizabeth all alone, completely alone.

 **The knight's barracks:**

Gilthunder and Griamore had arrived at the knight's barracks and were desperate to find another companion. They asked each individual trainee, but, to no avail. They left the barracks bewildered as to where else they could look. They had looked in the castle, the grassy hills, Merlin's tower and the knight's barracks. Both young boys sat in front of the barracks utterly disappointed, they watched as all the trainees went home and were surprised to see a new face.

* * *

Next chapter: Hauser


	4. Hauser's Challenge

The duo was not expecting to meet a new person at the barracks, until they heard the screams of an old lady. A thief had just stolen her belongings and was running right past them. Gil stood up and tried to stop the thief, pulling out his short sword and darting towards the man. Unfortunately he was noticed by the thief thus making him choose to sprint at a boy holding a stick. The boy noticed the thief running at him and within a moment's notice got fairly excited.

* * *

* **Twisty twirl of Doom** * the boy yelled out, sending the thief flying into the air.

Gilthunder look surprised at what had happened before him, he quickly averted his attention to the boy who had retrieved the woman's stolen possessions and returned them to her. She was very thankful to him and gave him an apple as a reward. He gladly accepted it and wolfed it down. Gilthunder told Griamore to get up and walked over to the boy.

Gil: "Hey, you… what's your name?"

Hauser: "My name is Hauser; nice to meet you… who are you?

Gil: "My name is Gilthunder, I am the son of the great holy knight; I was wondering if you could help…" he was responding to the question before Hauser interrupted him.

Hauser: "The son of the great holy knight? In that case you wanna fight?" he said whilst smirking. Hauser's power level was closer to Gil's than Griamore's at a decent 264, but power levels are only basic measurements of your strength.

Gil: "I have more important things to do than fight you right now… I need to go find the missing princesses and I need people to help me." He said rather annoyed at Hauser's carefree response.

Hauser: "In that case, beat me in a fight and I'll help you out… after all I've been training with Sir Dreyfus and his sword skills are better than your dad's" he stated, holding onto his smile throughout his response.

Gil: "Fine! Then let's get this over and done with. Whoever gets disarmed first is the loser, okay?"

Hauser: "I'm cool with that." He responded, grabbing the large branch he carried around.

Gilthunder prepared his sword, in an offensive stance, hoping that Hauser's lack of discipline would be his downfall. He carefully watched his opponent who showed vague, but, obvious errors. He lacked form, his balance was terrible and he was holding his weapon with a single hand. All these flaws boosted Gil's confidence, although he too was showing the flaws in his technique. They both darted towards each other and in a complete frenzy of blows they both lost their footing and tripped. They stared at one another and began acting like stereotypical children, blaming the other for tripping them over. Both boys seemed equally matched, but, they were still children. It did not take too long before they began using magic to attack.

* **Whirl shock** * yelled Hauser

* **Hammer of the thunder emperor** * yelled Gilthunder

Both of their magical attacks combined together and formed an electric cyclone that hit both boys, leaving them in a state of shock. In a matter of seconds both children had been hit by magic and they both took similar amounts of damage. They both dropped their weapons and began rolling on the floor, aching from the pain. There was no way for them to continue the fight and they both decided they would have a rematch later. Hauser honored his promise and joined the two boys in their quest to save the princesses. This outrageous antic was only the first in the long history of the three misfits and they would find themselves getting into more trouble, whenever they were in a group. They head off to the castle, believing they had enough members, and traveled to see the sin of Lust, Gowther. He was the only sin they could talk to, considering who the last member was, and might have some information on the whereabouts of the princesses.

* * *

Next chapter: Gowther's information


	5. Gowther's Information

The three boys traveled through the western street, passed the festival grounds and ran into the castle's main hall. There they found a giant, purple suit of armor reading a stack of novels out loud and acting them out. The three misfits stared at the overly large man from behind a pillar and were laughing at the absurd things he was repeating. While they were laughing at the weird man, he would notice them behind the pillar and decided to greet them. They noticed he had disappeared and feeling his presence they all turned around and were horrified with what they saw.

* * *

Gowther: "Welcome to Liones castle, I am the Goat's sin of Lust, Gowther." He said, with a pose and a monotone voice.

The three misfits: "WWWWHHHHHAAAAA! THAT'S SO CREEPY!"

The misfits were terrified and with Gowther's lack of human emotions, he stared at them with a puzzling look and began questioning them about their reaction.

Gowther: "Why do you say I am creepy?" he said, tilting his head.

The three misfits: "You don't just go up behind someone and pose in a suit of armor like that!"

Gowther: "I see… I will refrain from doing that behind people"

The three misfits looked at him with a dull expression written on their face and thought "That isn't what we meant", puzzling the sin of Lust further.

Gowther: "Why have you returned to the castle, I thought you went searching for the missing princesses?" he asked, clearly taking a logical stance in this argument.

Gil: "We need more people in order to find the princesses; we can't leave here without a group of four people."

Griamore and Hauser: "You didn't tell us that Gil!" they said staring at him, realizing he had left out some crucial details.

Gil: "Wait a minute… let me explain, it won't take that long I promise."

* * *

 **A few hours ago:**

Gilthunder and Zaratras were arguing about his involvement in the search, this happened before Gil went searching for people to help him. It was his intention to go alone and win Margaret's favor with his bravery… although this did not happen due to his father's wise words.

Zaratras: "No means no Gil, I cannot have my son, a knight-training, go looking for the princesses by himself."

Gil: "Why not? I want to prove to you that I am a great knight… all I want to do is make you proud."

Zaratras: "Gil… here are the reasons I won't send you out. The first is that if you get hurt your mother will have my head. The second is that even platinum rank holy knights are being assigned teams to find the princesses, meaning this is could be a dangerous mission and finally… we both know I'm not the person you're trying to impress Gil. I've seen the way you look at Lady Margaret. He said in a stern manner, trying to discipline his son, to no avail of course.

Gil: "What! Don't be silly dad, there is no way I would do something so selfish… hahahaha." He said with his face redder than a tomato and his father's piercing eyes staring him down.

Zaratras: "If it means that much to you then I have no choice… but, you will follow the rules I have already set for the remaining knights. Your group must be comprised of four people and one of them must be a platinum rank or above." He explained with a cheeky smile gradually growing on his face.

Gil: "Thanks dad, you won't be disappointed. My team will bring them back" he said running out of the room towards the king's bodyguards.

Zaratras: "I'm sorry Gil, but, the only platinum or higher ranked knights in the kingdom are myself, Sir Gowther, Sir Slader and one other person. This way you'll spend the entire day safely within the kingdom and I won't have to worry about you." He said, reassured that his son would stay safe.

* * *

 **Present time:**

Griamore and Hauser: "I see, well then that is settled… we just need to find a holy knight that ranks high enough to lead the group." They said in a cheerful mood.

Gowther: "There is a problem with you theory."

Gil: "What is it?" he said, his heart racing faster as his one chance of impressing Margaret was in sight.

Gowther: "There are only four people who rank high enough to lead your group; Myself, Sir Zaratras, Sir Slader and another person, who I am unable to tell you."

Gil: "Wait… Dad won't help me and Slader was busy; so that only leaves you and this other person?"

Gowther: "correct!" he said, giving Gil a thumbs-up.

Gil: "So… Sir Gowther will you come and help us find the princesses?"

Gowther: "No, I have been ordered by the captain to remain here and protect the kingdom… in case there is a problem, the only way to bypass this order is for the great holy knight and at least 100 other holy knights to be stationed in the kingdom. Currently, there are no more than 20 holy knights left in the kingdom." He explained, in his usual monotone voice, forcing Gil to realize his father's plan.

Gil: "There was no way I was going to go on this mission… was there?"

Gowther: "There is a 0.5% chance that you will be able to complete the mission. There is a 0.1% chance that you will participate in this mission." He stated, crushing Gil's plan and his dream to impress Margaret.

The son of the great holy knight curled up into a ball and began rocking back and forth. His confidence had also been shattered and he felt betrayed by his father. There was no way that they could participate in the search... What was this stupid 0.1% Gowther mentioned, anyway? To him, it was all so stupid.

Griamore: "Hey Gil, it's not the end of the world; I mean he said there was still a chance, right?" he said, trying to reassure Gil.

Gowther: "Right?"

Hauser: "We are done talking to you, go read you books again!"

Gowther: "Understood!" he said, waving goodbye at the boys and then returning to his original position.

The three misfits were walking up towards the second floor and arrived on that balcony. They looked around to see the empty streets that were usually filled with holy knights. It was almost 4:00PM and the sun was setting. The misfits turned around, intent on going home, until Gil noticed something peculiar. There was a knob of some sorts, in the shape of a lion's head. Gil suddenly realized who the final person was, but he wondered why Gowther had told him he could not name this person.

Gil: "I know who the last person Sir Gowther was speaking of."

As Gil turned the knob, a hidden passage opened up and revealed a large flight of stairs leading down below the castle. The passage was dark, damp and excessively tight, whatever was down there was probably not supposed to be let out.

Griamore and Hauser: "Who?"

Gil: " ** _The Lion's sin of Pride, Escanor!_** "

* * *

Next Chapter: Escanor's Pride


	6. Escanor's Pride

The boys peered down as the darkness seemingly swallowed the entire stairwell. There was no indication that anything lived down there and the boys were not eager to find out. Gilthunder declared that he would traverse this obstacle as they needed to find Escanor, and what better place than his cell. The other two agreed and they marched towards the open passageway only to realize how deep the journey was. The decrepit stairway emitted a dark aura, not a single torch was lit down the enormous flight of stairs and the only thing keeping the boys motivated was their dedication to their mission. They continued walking, stepping in puddles of cold water and holding onto the walls. Such a dark and desolate place would be unbearable for anyone to live in, let alone visit. The only people who have been down these stairs are Meliodas and Merlin, and one of them can float. The boys finally came to a large room where they noticed a large bright square in the middle. The atmosphere had, also, changed; there was a slight amount of light from torches lit across the walls and the bright cube in the center was practically blinding. The misfits walked towards the strange cube and began discussing how they would approach Escanor.

* * *

Gil: "My father tells me that there are a few rules when talking to Escanor. The first is always respect him, being honest is sometimes a bad idea. The second is to not challenge him for any reason *stares at Hauser* and the final thing is that if he is insulted three times by the same person he will lose control over himself and get much stronger and let loose his ability." He explained, hoping the others would not aggravate him that much.

Hauser: "Why did you look at me when you said not to challenge him? I may have challenged you, but, I'm not stupid… he's out of our league." He yelled, hoping to teach Gil not to judge people based on first impressions.

Griamore: "My dad said: we should never be anywhere near this place… because Escanor has a habit of playing with people's minds." He states, terrified at the thought of his head exploding. Suddenly a deep voice was heard echoing around the room.

Deep voice: "It's rude to talk about someone when they are standing right in front of you, boys." it said, in a rather displeased tone.

The three misfits turned around only to see the lion's sin of Pride leaning against the perfect cube, and looking fairly annoyed.

The Three Misfits: "W-w-w-w-we're sorry…Sir." they exclaimed, essentially pleading for forgiveness.

Escanor: "What do you want?"

Gil: "We need your help to find the missing princesses… Will you help us?" he pleaded.

Escanor: "Okay… but only on one condition."

Gil: "What is it?" he asked, excited that he finally had enough members.

Escanor: "Find a way to release the perfect cube! That is the only condition I have for you. You may take it as a personal challenge. I will not join you if I sense that your determination, skill, power, desires or drive is lacking." He explained, letting a small smile form on his face.

The Three Misfits: "Oh… I'm not sure we are capable of that, Sir!

Escanor: "Well it seems you lack a knight's Pride. A knight is sword to protect the kingdom and the royal family. He would give up his life for King and country and would also place them before himself. That is a knight's pride and that is what I want you to show me. Are you capable of proving you've got what it takes to become a holy knight of Liones? I will judge you based on your actions, not your words… return to me when you have the means to open my cell. Lastly, I am not a "sir" I am the Lion's sin of Pride, Lord Escanor, and I would appreciate you make haste with your new mission." He stated, clearly wanting to challenge the children, but, also wanting to walk around.

The Three Misfits: "Yes, Lord Escanor." They said running back towards the gloomy stairway.

Escanor: "There is a shortcut to the throne room on the left wall you know…" he said, watching the three boys fall down the stairs and making their way towards the shortcut, bumps on their heads and all. The misfits arrived in the throne room and began looking for ways to destroy the perfect cube. Meanwhile, Escanor was sitting in his cell and pulled open a book.

Escanor: "It should take them a total of 20 minutes to realize that Merlin's apprentice, Vivian, is the only one capable of removing me from the cube and that leaves me 40 minutes of freedom before I revert back to my original self. *sigh* I cannot believe I lectured them about the Pride of a holy knight… perhaps if less knights were prideful I would have burned less people before joining the sins. I suppose it is best not to dwell on the past… besides nobody is as poetic, popular, powerful, prideful or as perfect as I am." He exclaimed, chuckling to himself. He also decided he should search for the princesses using "sunshine"; it could pinpoint the specific life energy of certain individuals.

Escanor: "I found them… in a ravine two miles north from the kingdom of Liones, one of them is injured and the other seems unharmed. There are several bandits prowling the area, perhaps looking for them as well? Anyway, they had better not destroy any more of my world or I will be severely enraged when I face them." he exclaimed, resting his head on a pillow and closing his eyes. The boys needed to hurry or the princesses would be in further danger, they spent 20 minutes rummaging around the castle and Merlin's lab until, as Escanor predicted, Gilthunder came to his conclusion.

Gilthunder: "Dammit… the only way to get Escanor out of the perfect cube is not to destroy the cube, but, to teleport him out. We need to find Merlin's apprentice, it's the only way we are going to find her.

* * *

Next chapter: Vivian's Love


	7. Viviann's Love

The three misfits now had another mission: Find the Liones magician, Viviann. She had a major crush on Gil, despite being at least 7 years older than him and could always be found spying on Gil when he trained, ate, slept… she was always found spying on him. Gilthunder decided to go look for Viviann himself, mainly because Hauser had suddenly disappeared and Griamore was afraid of her. He told Griamore to remain in Merlin's lab and look for other ways to release Escanor, in case Viviann was unresponsive. He honestly wanted Griamore to just stay inside the lab, so that he would not get into any trouble. Hauser, on the other hand, wandered around the castle for the first time and thought the entire experience was incredible. His hyperactive nature shone brightly in the corridors as he ran past all the servants and knights that were passing through. Hopefully Hauser would return to the lab or at least to Escanor's cell so that they could leave on their main mission together. Gil's task had taken the spotlight and he scoured the castle attempting to find an elusive magician. He did not find Viviann; however, he did run into Margaret. They encountered each other in the castle gardens, next to a stone fountain, surrounded by red roses.

* * *

Gil: "P-P-Princess M-M-Margaret, so nice to see you today! He stated, nervously and with a clear tinge of red across his face.

Margaret: "Good afternoon, Gilthunder… do you know if anyone has found my sisters yet?" she asked, clearly worried about her sisters lives.

Gil: "Unfortunately, there seems to be no trace of them your highness… But, don't worry because I myself will be going to look for them as well." He said, a sudden burst of confidence leapt out of his chest.

Margaret: "But, you're just a knight in training… what good can you do Gilthunder?" she asked, breaking Gil's sudden burst of confidence and replacing it with a surge of depression. He quickly recovered and began acting more like a child, than he usually did.

Gil: "In that case, I'll show you and all the other knights how great my team is. Mark my words; we'll be the ones that find your sisters and after that I expect a decent reward too… like a kiss or something." He yelled, a few moments went by before he realized what he had said… but, it was far too late to take back his childish words.

Margaret: *chuckles* "IF you bring my sisters back, I will gladly give you a kiss Gilthunder… but if you don't I'm going to remind you of this day for the rest of your life." She said, an evil glare appeared in her eyes, as she believed that he would fail this task against other knights with far more experience.

Gil: "Deal! Now I just have to find Viviann…" he stated.

Margaret: "You mean her?" she questioned, pointing towards the bushes behind Gil.

Gil: "Yeah… her…" he said, a look of desperation came across his face.

Viviann: "What did you want, sir Gilthunder?" she asked, eager to please the man of her dreams.

Gil: "I need you to release the Lion's sin of Pride from the perfect cube, please." He asked, with a serious expression on his face and an aura of confidence rose in his voice.

Margaret: "ARE YOU INSANE! THERE IS A REASON HE IS SEALED AWAY INSIDE THAT CUBE AND YOU WANT TO BREAK HIM OUT! WHAT KIND OF MORON ARE YOU?" She yelled loudly so that the entire kingdom could hear her.

Viviann: "I can do that, but, may I ask why you wish to release such a dangerous man?" she asked, puzzled by Gil's almost suicidal request.

Gil: "Lord Escanor has agreed to help me and the rest of my group to find your sisters… I think he just wants the fresh air, to be honest." He said, pointing towards his chest and trying to create less anger in Margaret's eyes.

Margaret: "IF HE HURTS MY SISTERS I WON"T FORGIVE YOU!" she yelled, storming off.

Margaret's thoughts: " _Please don't get yourself killed Gil_ " she thought, she too had some feelings for him… she just never had the right moment to tell him.

Viviann: "Let us go then, shall we?" she said, waiting for Gilthunder's approval.

Gil: "Sure, but, first let's stop by the Merlin's magical lab because Griamore is there and I kind of need him." he stated, pushing Viviann to teleport them quite a distance away.

Viviann: "Of course, Gil." She said, teleporting them to the magical laboratory and finding Griamore rolling on the floor crying.

Griamore: "I'm so scawed!" he cried

Gil: "What are you doing, crying on the ground?"

Griamore: "You left me alone and forgot to tell me where you were going" *hic* *snivel*

Gil's thoughts: "Oops!" he thought, realising he did leave without warning.

Gil: "My bad… anyway I'm here and now and we can finally go save princesses Elizabeth and Veronica" he said, smiling towards his crying companion.

Griamore: "Okay… let's go save the princesses" he said, returning the smile and holding his head high with confidence.

Gil: "Viviann, if you'd please!" he asked politely.

Viviann: "O-O-Of course, Sir Gilthunder." She fumbled, before teleporting them all to Escanor's cell.

* * *

 **Escanor's cell:**

In front of the cell the rest of the group found a very active Hauser, who had chosen to bother the sin of Pride with an endless supply of questions. The sin of Pride seemed to be reluctantly answering them.

Hauser: "How tall are you?"

Escanor: "At Night, I'm 190cm tall and in the day I'm like 270cm tall."

Hauser: "Cool! What's your favourite colour?"

Escanor: *sigh* "Black"

Hauser: "What food do you like?"

Escanor: "Meat in the day and fruit at night"

Hauser: "Who do you have a crush on?"

Escanor: "THAT"S NONE OF YOUR CONCERN, CHILD!" he yelled, clearly not wanting to talk about his love life. Hauser was quite surprised to see him explode on the topic, but, chose to ignore the outburst and resumed asking him questions.

Gil: "Hey Hauser, I think you should stop pestering him… we're going to let him out." He said, Hauser's face suddenly turning to dread when he realized they were doing this.

Hauser: "Oh…Crap!" he said, clearly knowing where this was going. Viviann teleported Escanor to the outside of the "perfect cube" and the Lion's sin of Pride immediately walked to the exit. The three misfits followed suite as they were unsure of what this man intended to do. They followed him outside, where Escanor opened his mouth and inhaled a large amount of air only to exhale the remnants back out.

Escanor: "Fresh air always tastes better when I've been cooped up in that cube for so long." He said, the wind brushing against his long hair and his ponytail flying in the wind.

Gil: "Lord Escanor, we need to hurry and find the princesses… its 5:30 in the afternoon, so your power is going to start dropping soon. He stated, noticing the Lion's sin of Pride letting out a slight smile.

Escanor: "I know where they are. The time of day is not detrimental to the success of this mission, rather the arrival of bandits and a large beast in the area, will be what we must overcome." He explained, leading them in the direction of the eastern gate.

Guard: "Halt, for verification I need to know the size of your group and which of you is a diamond rank holy kni… I'm sorry Lord Escanor; I did not realize it was you. You look quite different from the last time we saw you.

Escanor: "I let my hair grow out… I intend to cut it for the upcoming festival. Anyway, back to business… I'm the diamond rank holy knight and I will be accompanied by these three knights in- training." He said, confidently and without a strand of emotion on his face.

Guard: "Of course sir, I suppose you'll be searching for the princesses as well?"

Escanor: *smiles* "I'm not going looking for the princesses; I'm going to find them… I need those three behind me to do something important thought." He stated, clearly confident and turning towards the three misfits.

Escanor: "Get ready for quite a tough fight, I sense a few power levels that are higher than yours including the beast. I suggest you work on a strategy whilst we walk over there… oh and could Viviann; you're not coming with us… I do not enjoy having a magician around who can teleport me back inside the perfect cube." He stated, walking through the kingdom's western gate and waiting for the three misfits to rush towards him.

Gil: "Thanks for your help Viviann, I really appreciate it. Come on guys let's go!" he said.

Griamore and Hauser: "YEAH!" they yelled, clearly both passionate about their adventure.

Viviann: "I'm just glad to have been of service, sir Gilthunder." She said, turning her head and blushing slightly.

Escanor's thoughts: "I wonder how they will fair against the upcoming threat, and whether or not they will fight individually or as a team. I suppose I will find out the answer soon enough, I just hope the sunset doesn't arrive sooner than expected."

* * *

Next Chapter: Bandits, Beasts and Bridges


	8. Bandits, Beasts and Bridges

Finally able to begin their mission, the three misfits, led by Escanor, exited the massive walls that protected the kingdom of Liones and set their sights on saving the missing princesses. The sin of Pride had pin pointed the general area in which they were located and had planned to rush over there himself, taking all the glory upon his return. However, he had witnessed the three boys show an exceedingly high amount of determination to reach the beginning of their task. A person, as prideful as himself, knew that the boys had their honor as knights in-training on the line. It was the reason he smiled as they left the capital, these three children had changed the sin of Pride's perspective on their existence, something adults cannot do. Regardless of this, the four of them began running in the direction Escanor had scanned for the princesses. As they followed, the boys stared into the sun and noticed something strange, it was setting.

* * *

 **Gil** : " _Lord Escanor, the sun is setting… so why have you decided to come with us?_ " he asked, perplexed at the reason the sin of Pride had for leaving his cell at this time.

 **Hauser** : " _Gil, what are you talking about?_ " he asked, equally confused because he did not know the truth about Escanor's ability.

 **Escanor** : " _It's quite simple Hauser… When the sun rises I become incredibly powerful and at noon I reach my peak. When the sun sets the reverse happens and I become a weak version of myself. It is unfortunate I cannot stay at my full power in both day and night, however I will become the weakest holy knight in of Liones when said sun sets._ " He explained calmly, which was strange for Escanor.

 **Hauser** : " _WOW! That sounds kind of cool… but, are you really that weak at night?_ " he asked, eager to know more.

 **Gil** : " _Hold on you didn't answer my question!_ " he yelled angrily, mainly at Hauser of course for interrupting him.

 **Escanor** : " _My power level at midnight is at 300, I might be in my weakest form… but I am still stronger than the 3 of you. As for your question Gil, I wanted some fresh air… that's all there is to it. Not to mention you may need the other me later._ " He said, easing their nerves and giving them his word that he would not let them down.

 **Griamore** : " _I heard you become really selfless, shy and weak. My Dad says you're a cry-baby at night too._ " He said, with a cocky tone in his voice. The other two misfits looked at Griamore as if he'd just defied god himself.

 **Escanor** : " _Selfless, shy and weak… that seems about right, although I hate to admit it. But, a cry-baby I am not. I may become timid… but I assure you that I do not cry at every given opportunity. I stared the vampire king in the face and did not shed a tear… besides I heard from your dad that you still wet the bed and that you're quite the cry-baby yourself. You should not play this game with me boy; I'm quite fond of messing with people._ " He said, a small smile brewing on his face upon finishing his small speech. A sudden look of dread appeared on Griamore's face as his secret had been revealed to the other boys. He looked at them and without a moment's hesitation they both began to laugh at him.

 **Gil and Hauser** : " _pfffttt… hahahahahahahaha_ "

 **Griamore** : " _It's a serious problem… you wouldn't understand!_ "

 **Hauser** : " _Yeah, cause we don't wet the bed… hahahaha_ "

 **Escanor** : " _Regardless of that we have arrived. There is a desolate feeling in the air. Be wary… there are bandits nearby, as well. Keep your guard up and you should be fine._ " He said.

They arrived at a small ruined village. Broken houses, shattered windows, an unreadable sign and not a sound could be heard. The wind howled through the trees and created an ominous howl. This abandoned atmosphere scared the boys. A thick mist enveloped the town and crept into the village as the sun set. They looked at their leader for guidance and they found he was gazing towards the far end of the town, where a shaded bridge like structure could be seen in the distance. The boys then realized where they had to go.

 **Gil** : "W-w-w-we don't have to go into the mist do we?" he asked, hoping the answer was no.

 **Escanor** : "We do" he declared, the three misfits clearly having different thoughts to Escanor.

 **The three misfits (thoughts)** : "God damn it!"

They began walking towards the thick fog, hoping that nothing would attack them. They were barely a few feet in front of the misty wall until it suddenly disappeared. The boys noticed a faint glow coming from Escanor's chest and realized that the sin of Pride's presence was pushing the fog away, almost as if it were scared of him. They arrived at a tattered bridge, which overlooked a steep ravine. Everything looked fine until Escanor noticed an unmistakable giant footprint, one that clearly belonged to Diane.

 **Escanor** : " _This is the way the other sins came for their mission… this bridge should not be broken, unless they purposefully did it. Three of the sins would have found another way across and I would be willing to bet that Ban and Meliodas had a competition on it._ " He explained, looking around for evidence of their competition. Upon closer inspection, he found no signs of forced trauma on the closest side of the bridge. However, he noticed they were not alone, there was someone watching them… no not a single person, more like two hundred.

 **Escanor** : " _I found the princesses… they are underneath us in the ravine. I would suggest you boys be careful getting them out._ " He said, pointing down into the dark hole where the princesses had fallen.

 **Gil** : " _What about you?_ " he asked, confused to why the sin of Pride would not help them.

 **Escanor** : " _We have company!_ " he said, lifting his right arm and pointing towards the far side of the bridge. Sure enough there was a strong looking bandit supported by an army of at least 200 men. The sin of Pride looked at the boys as if to say " _I got this_ " and jumped across the ravine. He landed face to face with the bandit leader, who did not recognize him as a member of the sins. He was looking to stretch his muscles and found the perfect warm up. He signaled at the boys to hurry and noticed something peculiar appear in the midst of the mist. He understood the risks of the situation and was fully prepared to end the bandits as quickly as possible.

* * *

 **Escanor's encounter:**

 **Escanor** : " _Let's finish this fight quickly; I'd hate to have the blood of innocent children on my hands._ " He declared, ignoring their large numbers and speaking directly to the strongest fighter.

 **Bandit Leader, Elmar** : "Don't you know who I am weakling? I am the great bandit leader, Elmar. I'm the strongest bandit leader there is and I've come looking for some princesses. They'll be worth a fortune!" he said, a cocky smile on his face and an overwhelming exertion of confidence blazed from him.

 **Escanor** : " _Weakling..? Interesting choice of words, but I'll have to disappoint you. I've never heard of you before, so you must be considerably weaker than some of the other bandits I've killed. I wonder what I'll take from you as a trophy. How about that spear you have?_ " he contemplated, a look of disgust appeared on his face and his eyes fixated on this supposedly strong bandit. Escanor's face progressively became a smile as he continued talking to him. He knew this type of person well. The type that bolsters their strength with numbers and individually isn't that strong.

 **Elmar** : " _You think I'm bluffing? Allow me to show you what I think of your stupidity!_ " he said, swinging his left fist at Escanor's chest. The blow connected and blood spattered across the floor, the bandits who were cheering on their leader had suddenly stopped. Their cheers turned to a sweet serenade of screams as they realized what had occurred. The bandit leader removed his hand from Escanor's chest, crying out in pain. His fingers had all broken backwards on impact, his knuckle had shattered and his left forearm had been fractured in several places. Elmar looked at Escanor's face and his confident attitude instantly changed into one of terror.

In a state of panic, he shuffled back a few paces and began regretting his decision to punch the Sin of Pride. His life flashed before him and his ability to process information crumbled. Escanor stared at his chest and gazed at the spot Elmar had punched. His eyes followed the bandit leader as he began to step towards him.

 **Escanor** : " _First you called me a weakling… Then you attack me by surprise and without honor… and then you have the nerve to leave your filthy blood on my shirt… you have greatly fouled my mood. I believe you need to be educated not to offend your superiors._ " He stated, looking at Elmar, a killer intent brewing in his eyes. The surrounding bandits and their leader quickly turned around and began running. Their speed was impressive to a human's standards and their screams of terror were music to Escanor's ears.

 **Bandits** : " _Run! He's gonna kill us!_ " They yelled, desperately running for their lives.

 **Elmar** : " _I wish I hadn't done that!_ " He said, crying off into the distance.

 **Escanor** : " _The thing in the fog isn't the strongest creature… You kids can deal with this mess yourselves… my honor demands justice._ " He said, bolting after the bandits, eager to catch up with their leader and contemplating how he should kill him.

* * *

 **In the Ravine**

 **Griamore** : "Princess Veronica, are you down here?"

 **Gil** : "Princess Elizabeth, where are you?"

 **Hauser** : " _Yo, princesses speak up!_ "

 **Griamore** : " _Don't be so rude when talking to Princess Veronica!_ " he said, in a stern voice, attempting to mimic his father.

 **Hauser** : " _You mean princess tomboy, right?_ " he asked, with a giddy smile on his face. This infuriated Griamore as he began pulling Hauser's hair as the latter began hitting him with his tree branch.

 **Gil** : " _Stop fighting you two, I hear something._ " He yelled, a reasonable request considering the situation.

 **Elizabeth** : " _WAH! HEWLP MWE!_ "

 **Veronica** : " _Can anyone hear us? HELLO!_ "

The three misfits reached the source of the noise and found both princesses lying on the ground. Elizabeth had been crying for hours, it would seem. They picked themselves off the ground, to their surprise Veronica's leg had been bandaged, but was unharmed.

 **Elizabeth** : " _GWILTHUNDER!_ " she yelled running over to him and hugging him tightly.

 **Veronica** : " _What took you so long you dimwit!_ " she yelled, hitting Griamore across the back of his head.

 **Gil** : " _We had better get you both home, your father's sent nearly everyone in the kingdom to find you._ " He suggested.

 **Veronica** : " _The great holy knight would never have let the three of you go by yourself, I'm sure he put restriction so you couldn't partake in the search._ " She said, demanding an explanation.

 **Gil** : " _Actually… he did. We just found a way around them that's all. Let's leave this ravine and I'll tell you the whole story._ " He explained. The three boys laughed slightly at Gil's explanation. The three misfits, followed by the two princesses arrived at the wall of the ravine; they chose a part was climbable. Elizabeth jumped on Gilthunder's back and Veronica on Griamore's. Instead of climbing out of the hole they used a different method of escape: Hauser.

* _ **Spinning propulsion**_ * he cried as the three boys were launched in the air, a little too high for the princesses taste, and they landed safely on the other side of the cliff. Upon landing Veronica began angrily ranting at Hauser for doing something so dangerous, luckily Griamore managed to calm her down.

 **Gil** : " _Anyway, we just have to wait here for Escanor now._ " He said.

 **Veronica** : " _Escanor? The lion's sin of Pride, Escanor? The most dangerous man alive?_ " she asked.

 **Gil** : " _Yeah that Escanor._ " He said, with a smile on his face.

 **Veronica** : " _I'm jumping back down into the ravine, screw that!_ " she said, as she ran to the edge of the ravine. Griamore being the good friend he is tackled her to the ground so that she could not do that.

 **Gil** : " _its fine, he's cool!_ " he said, trying to reassure her. They once again calmed her down and began walking towards the village; however a giant monkey appeared on a rock and began to stare them down.

 **Hauser** : " _What the hell is that?_ " he yelled. It was his first time seeing a 'man-eating monkey' before. Actually, none of them knew what it was… until it suddenly attacked them. The misfits grabbed the princesses and ran towards the tattered bridge, hoping to lose the monkey. They were unsuccessful as the monkey was incredibly fast and was using the terrain to its advantage.

 **Gil** : " _Griamore, duck!_ " he yelled.

 **Griamore** : " _No Gil, you idiot… it's a monkey!_ " he said, second later getting kicked in the back by the monkey and sent flying towards a rock.

 ***** _ **Perfect shell**_ * he said, creating a shield around himself and Veronica to avoid being injured on collision with the rock.

 **Veronica** : " _That was too close for comfort, you dimwit!_ " she yelled, slapping him across the face.

 **Griamore** : " _Oww… It wasn't my fault, I thought Gil had a brain fart_ " he said, trying to explain his actions.

 **Man-eater Monkey** : * _Monkey noises_ *

 **Hauser** : " _I think we're gonna have to fight this thing!_ " he stated.

 **Gil** : " _Agreed, for the honor of the knights of Liones we hereby sentence you to death!_ " he declared, unsheathing his sword. Griamore did the same and Hauser grabbed his tree branch.

 **Man-eater Monkey** : * _Angry growls and howls_ *

* * *

Next Chapter: Monkey Business!


	9. Monkey Buisness

The three misfits had successfully rescued the two princesses from the ravine, when a man-eater monkey attacked them. Although they outnumbered the monkey 3 to 1, they were still wary of its strength. This beast was miles away from its natural habitat, which made this meeting an unusual one. This reminded Gil of a report he saw on his father's desk, a mystery that had never been solved. The abandoned village, the group walked through, was a prosperous trading town, no more than six years ago. The villagers lived simple and peaceful lives until an unknown phenomenon destroyed the town and killed all the inhabitants. Knights, from various kingdoms, were sent to investigate and all went missing. Thus, the town was reported as "cursed" and everyone steered clear of it. The boys were face to face with the true cause of this catastrophe, a beast that hungers for blood and leaves little trace of its victims. One of these monkeys was estimated to have a power level of 350; thus making them a challenge for holy knights, let alone knights in training. The three misfits had no choice but to defend themselves against the beast and protect the princesses at any cost.

* * *

 **Gil** : " _Griamore, you protect the princesses. Hauser, you fight this thing with me._ " He yelled, attempting to formulate a plan with his team. He gave an unconscious Elizabeth to Veronica and Griamore stood between them and the monkey.

 **Griamore** : " _Understood!_ " he responded. Judging by his tone, he was afraid. However, he knew that he had to protect the princesses with his life. If the monkey got past both Gil and Hauser, he would be the only one left to save them.

 **Hauser** : " _Alright! Let's kick its butt._ " He said, charging head on towards the monkey.

 **Gil** : " _WAIT!_ " He yelled, trying to stop Hauser's mistake. He was too late; the monkey had noticed a pathetic attempt to attack him and responded immediately.

" _ **Whirl Shock**_ " Hauser cried, lunging his branch towards the monkey's position. The monkey effortlessly dodged the attack by performing a cartwheel around Hauser. The latter turned to face the beast and was kicked in gut. The monkey was stronger than they were and now both the beast and they were aware of it. Hauser's body was sent flying towards Gilthunder, the latter of which caught him. Blood streamed down Hauser's nose as he held his chest tightly.

 **Gil** : " _Hauser, are you alright? Your bleeding… god damn it!_ " he asked. He was equally concerned for his friend as he was afraid of his opponent.

 **Hauser** : " _I think I broke a rib or something…_ but I'll be fine!" he said, with a weak tone in his voice. The monkey was quite proud of itself, shown by how it was jumping up and down… taunting the remaining two boys to fight it. It began pulling faces and even turned around to smack its behind. Fortunately the other two boys were still concerned with Hauser's condition and safety, thus they could not be fooled by the monkey's taunt.

 **Griamore** : " _Do you think we should wait for Lord Escanor to come and save us?_ " he asked. The three boys looked up to the sky and began realizing their chances of being rescued were slim. The sun had almost set, giving Escanor about 20 minutes before he reverts to his weaker form. However, regardless of that Gil was convinced they could beat it themselves. Not only was his honor as a knight on the line, he needed to prove to himself that he could become a great knight. His lessons with Meliodas had been preparing him for this moment, he couldn't back down now.

 **Gil** : " _NO! I refuse to be rescued by anyone. This is our fight… we have been training for so long and now we finally go on our first mission and we can't defeat a single monkey? I don't care what it takes… we are going to complete this mission for the sake of what we believe in, for what is right and for what we stand for._ " He yelled. His eyes gleamed with confidence and resolve. The other boys stared at him, whilst the monkey seemed confused. A brief moment past until the other boys stood up, a smile across their faces and the same resolve in their hearts. The monkey scratched its head and waited for his opponents to make the first move. They continued their original strategy, however this time Hauser did not confront the monkey himself. Instead they chose to work as a team. This was their first mission and their first test. They HAD to complete it after all they had done to get here.

* _ **Iron Hammer of the Thunder Emperor**_ * Gil yelled, thrusting his sword at his target. A giant lightning bolt appeared from the sky and struck the monkey, inhibiting its movements. Whilst it was paralyzed from the previous attack Hauser rushed in and continued their attacks.

* _ **Rising Tornado**_ * Hauser cried, creating a small typhoon which sent the monkey flying. As this was happening the two boys looked at Griamore, signalling him to use his ability.

* _ **Perfect Shell**_ * Griamore said, creating a shield to protect himself and the two princesses from harm. The monkey landed on the ground, enraged at the boys.

 **Hauser** : " _Damn, it wasn't enough!_ " he said, a shiver was sent down his spine.

 **Gil** : " _We could always try hitting it together!_ " he suggested, a look of desperation on his face.

* _ **Rising Tornado**_ * Hauser yelled!

* _ **Purge of the Thunder Emperor**_ * Gilthunder yelled!

* _ **Combination Attack: Dragon Castle!**_ * They both cried out! The monkey was surrounded by a large tornado and sent flying towards its center. Whilst within the tornado the beast was struck with hundreds of volts of electricity. The boy's power finally gave out as their magic vanished from the air. Griamore's "Wall" also reached its limit; luckily he managed to protect the princess from the 'Dragon Castle' and the monkey. Gilthunder and Hauser both collapsed to the ground. They stared at the monkey's body, which had been seared from all the electricity. The man-eater monkey had been killed and the boys were relieved to have won their fight. Unfortunately they failed to notice a multitude of red eyes staring at them from the mist. They decided to rest against a nearby boulder until Escanor returned. However, his battle had yet to start as his opponents were still running away.

* * *

 **Escanor's fight:**

 **Escanor** : " _Do you truly intend to run away from me?_ " he asked, killing off the bandits he caught up to mercilessly. Of the 200 bandits that he was faced with half of them were dead. The rest were still running through the forest, attempting to create a sliver of distance between themselves and the bloodthirsty killer. However, the sin of Pride had no intention of stopping his murderous spree.

 **Elmar's thought** : " _Just keep running… he'll get tired eventually… just keep running… my men will occupy him long enough for me to get away… won't they?_ " he thought, turning his head slightly to see more of his men being slain. One of their heads was crushed, another was torn in half and a third was punch through the chest. The level of power that exerted from Escanor was incomparable to the amount of fear he produced within his enemies. They all kept running, hoping to arrive at their camp before they were killed.

 **Bandit** : " _If we make it to the camp, the giants we hired can kill him… there's no doubt about it. We hired the eastern warrior chief and two of his best fighters after all._ " He said, shacking with fear. A few seconds after finishing this statement the bandit was kicked into a tree where he exploded into a bloody mess.

 **Escanor** : " _Interesting, I get to fight a few giants do I? I hope I don't run out of time then, or I'll be the one running away._ " He muttered as to not be heard. He was only interested in going for a walk, but, this was much better. To think he'd get to fight off a miniature army gave him quite the adrenaline rush. The remaining bandits numbered about 50, including their leader, and exited the forest in a blind panic. The giants noticed their benefactors running towards them and began moving to intercept the supposed threat. Paying no attention to most of the bandits, the giants crushed some of them underfoot. As the bandits made it to their camp "safely", the giants stood between them and the forest, awaiting the monster that was chasing them. As they waited, a severed head was thrown at the warrior chief, staining his leg with blood. Escanor exited the forest, a relived expression on his face… he no longer had to chase after his prey.

 **Eastern Warrior Chief, Cornwall** : " _I am the Eastern Warrior Chief, Cornwall. I will destroy you for having insulted me, insect._ " He declared, whilst his fellow giants stood on each side of the target to prevent him from escaping.

 **Escanor** : " _My apologies, I did not mean to insult a big blubbering buffoon, such as yourself. It's just I can't help but feel sorry for all your followers… having to deal with such a weak and ugly looking leader._ " He stated. Cornwall's expression became one of undisputed rage, he signaled to the two giants to attack. They both lunged at Escanor, using their right fists to punch him into the ground.

 **Cornwall** : " _Die, you miserable worm!_ " he yelled, watching as Escanor looked helpless against his two greatest warriors. He watched as both punches connected and began laughing. His laughter was soon interrupted by the expressions his comrades gave him. He gazed down at Escanor who had simply punched their hands, breaking their knuckles and causing them immense pain.

 **Escanor** : " _Is this all you can do?_ " he asked, clearly unimpressed by his opponents lack of skill and strength. He touched both his attackers' hands, looked at the warrior chief and smiled.

 **Escanor** : " _Be gone from my world, filth!_ " he declared. Finishing his sentence he activated "sunshine" and began burning both the giants alive. The warrior chief watched in horror as his best men were incinerated, melted and eventually turned to ash. Escanor's smile grew as he stared at the warrior chief; the latter began to shake with rage.

 **Cornwall** : " _YOU BASTARD!_ " he yelled, his very cry echoing throughout the entire forest.

 **Escanor** : " _You called me an insect and a worm… I cannot allow such insults to go unpunished. I will reciprocate my wrath on you as I did your comrades. But, before that… apologize to me for being born into my world._ " he stated. Disgusted by the lack of fight his previous opponents gave him.

* * *

 **Next Chapter** : Melting Mongrels!


	10. Melting Mongrels

Whilst the three misfits recovered from their encounter with a man-eater monkey, the Lion's sin of Pride was considering the possibility of boiling his new opponent alive. The bandits had greatly fouled his mood, specifically Elmar and Cornwall. The latter's scream had echoed throughout the forest and had unintentionally woken an even greater threat, something more fearsome than a single man-eater monkey… a horde of them. They began patrolling the broken village and set their eyes on the children, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. However, in the small time it took for the monkeys to locate the children, Escanor continued his rampage.

* * *

 **Cornwall** : " _Apologize to you? What kind of a fool do you think I am? I am more than capable of defeating you._ " He yelled, punching the ground and forcing Escanor to jump backwards.

 **Escanor** : " _At least you are a more worthy opponent than your friends. Show me your full power unless this is all you can do._ " he declared. He smirked at the thought of facing a powerful adversary.

 **Cornwall:** " _You fool! I will show you why I am the most powerful warrior chief!_ " he yelled.

* _ **Earthen Destruction**_ * he cried, creating several large earthen pillars to impale Escanor. The sin of Pride dodged them with ease and even without his sacred treasure was confident in beating his opponent. His smile had grown since the beginning of their confrontation and he was excited to see how these bandits would respond if he killed this warrior chief.

 **Escanor** : " _It seems you are fairly powerful and arrogant. I've seen warrior chiefs stronger than you, especially one I met more than six years ago. She was quite a powerhouse and gave me some trouble._ " He said, as he reached for something in his pocket.

 **Cornwall** : " _Wait! You've fought Matrona and survived?_ " he asked, the giant's tone changed from confident to slightly scared when he heard this. Matrona was said to be one of the strongest warriors chiefs in the history of the giant's clan, second only to her ancestor, Dolor. Although, she could not turn herself into Diamond, she was still very strong. A power level of 13K would be a rough estimate of her overall capabilities. Escanor looked at the eastern warrior chief and pulled out Balor's eye from his pocket. He had taken it from Vivian without her noticing so he could assess the bandits' power levels.

 **Escanor** : " _I have fought her, yes. Have you noticed the scars on her body? That was me, although I will admit they were accidental… a power level of 8000, impressive… but not good enough._ " He said, instilling more fear into his opponent. Cornwall began to sweat; his opponent had beaten Matrona before and exerted an incredible amount of power. He needed to compose himself and rely on his opponent's arrogance to win this fight. There was just one problem… his opponent was Escanor.

* _ **Rock Smash**_ * he cried, creating two large boulders from the ground and crashing them together. Escanor simply pulled out his arms and punched them. They shattered into a multitude of pieces and Cornwall kept up his onslaught of attacks.

* _ **Double Hammer**_ * he created two large earthen fists and slammed them into Escanor, but, the latter simply held his arms out forwards and used his shoulders to block it. As they connected with his body they broke and small holes could be seen where Escanor had stopped his magic.

 **Escanor** : " _Honestly… Diane does a better job of this than you do. But, I suppose she does have Gideon, which makes it unfair._ " He said, demeaning his giant opponent, who seemingly recognized that name.

 **Cornwall** : " _Diane? You know the Serpent's sin of Envy, Diane? Wasn't she one of Matrona's pupils?_ " he asked, he questioned what was happening… how this human knew so many giants, was beyond him.

 **Escanor** : " _Yes, I think she was one of Matrona's pupils and I heard she killed Matrona in a jealous rage. But, that is complete bullshit… there is no way someone as sweet as her would kill someone so important to her. Oh and I know Diane because… I am the Lion's sin of Pride, Escanor. If you know who I am, you might want to run away._ " He explained and suggested.

 **Cornwall** : " _Hahahaha, in that case I should find Diane and kill. As for you, I just have to wait until sunset and then you'll be nothing more than a bu…_ " he said. Seconds before Cornwall started his sentence, Escanor's bent his head down and his hair covered his eyes. His lips were pressed together and not a single shred of care appeared on his face. Until he heard the part about killing Diane and he suddenly showed exactly what he thought of it. Escanor punched him before he could end his sentence, which was followed by a blast from Sunshine that left a terrible scar. He had burnt a hole cleanly through Cornwall's stomach and incinerated a kidney. Cornwall was now in an incredible amount of pain, but, continued to fight. He used a technique that only the warrior chiefs knew existed.

* _ **GAIA'S WRATH!**_ * He yelled, the entire landscape around them both began surging beneath Escanor. Huge pillars burst from the ground and a large ravine opened up. The ravine swallowed half of the bandit's encampment killing almost all the remaining bandits. The barrage of attacks continued and Escanor noticed something peculiar, the pillars were getting larger and they were protruding spikes. The magic wasn't simply creation magic, but, the user using the technique converting their energy into a continuously evolving magic. As he thought of this technique the pillars began to close around him, they were far too large and there was no escape, the spikes were far too numerous and Escanor did not want to rip his clothes. The ravine from earlier began to circle around the pillars creating a massive pit, making ground escape impossible. Then the finishing move, a massive mountain like structure, three times the size of 'Mother Catastrophe' looms over the well-executed trap. This trap would be considerably deadly to anybody, even other giants, although the current person lingering in the trap wasn't bothered.

* * *

 **A few dozen miles away **

**Meliodas** : " _I'm glad that our mission went by so smoothly. Now, back to Liones._ " He said, holding his hand up to signal they were leaving. Suddenly they felt a strong presence off in the distance.

 **Diane** : " _Who is that?_ " She asked. Clearly curious at the large amount of power that was being unleashed.

 **Merlin** : " _Well, maybe we'll stop by that way and take a look at what happened_ " she replied. The sins began staring in the direction of the power when they saw the silhouette of the mountain. Everyone was impressed by its size, except one person.

* * *

 **Escanor's Battle**

 **Escanor** : " _You would think that an evolving magic would be more dangerous than this, but, I suppose it did double his power level. I cannot dodge that and I do not have enough time to stop that mountain by hand, but, I can use my weakest magical projection to change it's trajectory._ " he said, pointing his right hand into the sky and watching the mountain falling.

* _ **Solar Burst**_ * he whispered, shooting a small burst of light into the oncoming mountain. He knew he could not destroy the mountain, but, if he applied a slight amount of magic into it, he could move the mountain's trajectory towards Cornwall. Unfortunately, Escanor's magic is extremely destructive and instead of moving the mountain, it began to melt. Now a melting mound of earth was falling through the sky like a meteorite. It generated a great amount of heat as it traversed the sky, almost like an artificial sun. Escanor smiled as he realized he could use a 'combination attack' with Diane now, although it would quite unlikely for them to be paired up on a mission. It continued on it's course, all the people beneath it ran in terror from the flaming mound of death. It hit the ground with such force that it devastated the landscape, destroying Escanor's prison and killing the rest of the bandits. The only survivors who managed to avoid the attack were Cornwall and Elmar. Escanor, obviously survived, as he knew he would survive the attack regardless. He walked towards them and began reciting a poem he wrote whilst he was trapped.

 _The sky was filled with molten rock._

 _The bandits gazed in complete shock._

 _The survivors felt lucky they were still alive._

 _But, unfortunately so too was I._

 _I appeared before them a smile on my face._

 _I had defeated them all, regardless of their race._

 _I stared at them both, as they began to cry._

 _I'd started to melt these mongrels alive._

Escanor smiled, pleased with his work.

He finished his poem and watched as Elmar's seared corpse collapsed to the ground. He stared at the remains of Cornwall, whose arms and legs had melted, leaving him in a pool of his own blood. The very image he had created pleased him, but was cut short by a piercing scream.

" _YAAAAAAAAAHHHHH_!"

 **Escanor** : " _That's right, I forgot about the children._ " He said. Before rushing to their aid, he picked up Elmar's small axe and embedded it into Cornwall's head, killing the giant instantly. He then rushed over to the tattered bridge, where he had left the kids. They had been found by the man-eater monkeys and had begun running for their lives. The monkeys were angry because their friend had been killed and they were woken up. The children could only rely on Escanor to help them out… or could they? After all there was a single minute left until sunset.

* * *

 **Next Chapter** : Sixty Seconds of Sunlight


	11. Sixty Seconds of Sunlight

Whilst Escanor was fighting both his unfortunate opponents the children had been resting and tending to their wounds. They were all unaware that they were being surrounded by man-eater monkeys and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to stop them. There was a rough estimate of around 20 monkeys and they were all incredibly angry. They had noticed their friend's lifeless body and were infuriated with the children. It took the children five minutes to realize their grave situation and the possible end of their lives. The children suddenly noticed that some of the monkeys had appeared on each side of them, in which they reacted by standing up and running towards the center of the abandoned village. The children realized that all their escape routes were blocked as all 20 monkeys closed in on them. Princess Elizabeth had tried being brave up to this point, but, could not handle the sheer blood-lust the monkeys were emitting. This is when she let out an incredibly loud and piercing scream. It was this scream that began the following sixty seconds of pure chaos.

* * *

The monkeys were merciless beasts and had no tolerance for what had happened to their friend. They began attacking the children without remorse, to which Griamore, acting bravely for once, responded by protecting all five of them with his ability.

* _ **Perfect** **Shell**_ * he said, creating a large spherical barrier between him and the monkeys. Their simian opponents sent barrages of punches and kicks towards the barrier, quickly realizing that their attacks were useless against it. Suddenly a much larger monkey appeared and attempted to smash the barrier.

 **Hauser** : " _That must be their boss_." he said nervously, pointing towards the large beast.

 **Gil** : " _No shit Sherlock!_ " he yelled.

 **Griamore** : " _Who's Sherlock?_ " he asked.

 **Gil** : " _Ugh… never mind!_ " he replied. All three of them were promptly hit over the back of the head by Veronica whose face suggested she wanted to say " _shut up and focus on the situation at hand, you morons._ " The monkey's boss began thrashing the 'perfect shell' like a cat with a ball of yarn. It wasn't long before Griamore noticed his barrier was weakening and, after another few blows, cracks began to form.

 **Griamore** : " _Guys, we're in trouble. My barrier is about to break!_ " he said, milliseconds before the man eater monkey boss launched his final punch against the barrier and it shattered. The children, now defenseless, were completely vulnerable and some of them began to cry. All these events had happened so fast that they had almost spent an entire minute trying to survive. The monkeys all prepared to pounce towards the children with the intent of ripping them apart; however their boss had other plans and began screaming at them. Judging by his body language he wanted to finish them off himself.

As he was preparing to finish the terrified children he noticed a faint noise coming from the bushes on the other side of the bridge. He did not allow the noise to bother him and was subsequently punched by an infuriated sin of Pride, who had been traveling extremely fast. Escanor's strength itself surpassed Diane's and combined with the sheer amount of speed blew the monkey's head clean off his shoulders. The lifeless body of the monkey's boss was sent flying for miles and the remaining simians all looked towards Escanor.

 **Escanor** : " _Be gone with you, filthy beasts. I do not wish to see you in my presence._ " He said, his mere presence emanating a powerful amount of blood-lust which caused all of the man eater monkeys to shiver in terror. All of the man eater monkeys, forgetting their grudge and focusing on their own survival, fled from the area. Escanor let out a sigh of relief that the children were not gravely injured.

 **Hauser** : " _That was awesome!_ " he declared, with an obvious tone of terror in his voice. He was clearly not bothered with the fact he had monkey blood over him, but that Escanor was an extremely terrifying man. The princesses had avoided the blood, although Elizabeth was still crying as she believed Escanor was also going to hurt her.

 **Griamore:** " _I-i-i-it's over..."_ he said. Looking down at Griamore the others immediately realized he had wet himself during Escanor's sudden appearance.

 **Gil** : " _That was slightly overkill, lord Escanor, however I'm grateful that you saved us all._ " he said, still recovering from the shock of the last sixty seconds.

 **Escanor** : " _Your welcome... *_ **poof** _*_ " he said. A cloud of smoke suddenly appeared around Escanor and as it parted; his feeble looking self was left standing there.

 **The three misfits** : " _WHAT?!_ " they all yelled, not quite realizing that Escanor would change to this extent upon the setting of the sun.

 **Escanor** : " _A-a-anyway we'd better get back to Liones; your parents are probably worried sick._ " He said, giving them a reassuring smile.

* * *

 **Next Chapter:** **The Kindest Sin**

* * *

 **Author's notes: I'm sorry i haven't posted in a while, i have been rather busy. I just thought I'd let you know and thank you for your patience.  
**


	12. The Kindest Sin?

An entire minute of chaos passed and was almost forgotten by the five children in a matter of seconds. They were utterly shocked at the events that unfolded in front of them and had no idea how to react under the circumstances. The children were in awe of what they just experienced. This led them to wonder about the possible outcomes and how horrible those outcomes were. The very idea that they were nearly killed left a horrid feeling in their stomachs, Griamore even threw up. After being saved by Escanor, they still felt the same uneasy feeling that their lives were about to end, this was what terrified them the most. The danger had not been avoided, but merely replaced. They're dreaming was interrupted when they suddenly heard a familiar voice.

* * *

 **Escanor** : " _Are you all OK? The monkeys didn't hurt you right? I'll get in trouble if they did…_ " he said, rubbing the back of his neck as if to indicate he didn't want to cause any trouble. He walked towards them; the children stared at him with terrified expressions and began doubting their possibility of survival. The distance between both parties grew shorter until an unexpected event happened. The Lion's sin of Pride suddenly tripped on a protruding root. A sudden look of panic appeared on Escanor's face, until he eventually fell to the ground.

 **Escanor** : " _Ouch! That hurt…_ " he said, showing no signs of hiding his injuries. He noticed a couple of bruises on his arms and looked towards the children, who were still panicking. He let out a sincere and embarrassed smile, which snapped them out of their dream like trance. The relief they felt was clearly displayed on their faces when they saw his smile. They looked at him when suddenly a warm feeling surrounded them as they realized that, although he had become an entirely different person, his intentions were pure. He got to his feet and noticed the group had stopped trembling. He approached them, this time walking slightly faster and noticing the current condition of some of the children. Veronica's leg appeared to have been sprained; however she was walking around, which confused Escanor. Elizabeth had no injuries and seemed relatively tired. Griamore had an upset stomach, but, was no in a critical state. Gil and Hauser had both been hurt by the monkeys at some stage and this is where Escanor's "talent" came in handy.

 **Escanor** : " _Hauser, Gil, could you come over here please. When I said earlier than you would need the other me later… this is what I meant._ " He said, grabbing a couple of herbs from a nearby bush and gathering a bucket of water from e decrepit well. The two boys sat down and suddenly felt an incredible surge of pain. Escanor had cleaned the wounds and mixed in some herbs with the water, turning it into a medicinal mush that he smeared over their cuts and gashes. It stung the two misfits for quite some time, until they began to feel more at ease. Upon looking at their wounds, they realized they had disappeared… or to be more precise had closed up and appeared to no longer exist.

 **Gil** : " _Thank you, Sir Escanor!_ " he exclaimed, making an effort to stand up. He was a well versed child, being the son of the Great Holy Knight, and was always required to use formalities and manners, thus this was no problem for him. Hauser on the other hand…

 **Hauser** : " _Yeah, thanks…_ " he said. He had not had much practice with civilized manners given that he was the son of a renown blacksmith, but, he had still be disciplined by Lord Dreyfus about it.

 **Escanor** : " _You're both welcome. I suppose you can impress Margaret, right Gil_? He said, chuckling to himself as he revealed Gil's secret crush.

 **Gil** : " _What! How did you know?_ " he yelled in front of the others, who were shocked to hear it.

 **Escanor** : " _Well, it's mostly the way you act around her. Almost all of the adults in Liones Castle know you like her… I'm no exception. Who knows… maybe she likes you to._ " He said, hinting at the possibility that she may like him, which made him blush. He then proceeded to stare at Griamore, who instantly got chills running down his spine. The sin of Pride stopped his revelations and turned to look at Elizabeth, who was pulling on his pants. He crouched down to her level and began talking to her.

 **Escanor** : " _What's wrong, Princess?"_ he asked, smiling at her in a comforting manner. He then began to notice she was rubbing her eyes and yawning. He understood what the problem was without her saying anything, but, she did anyway.

 **Elizabeth** : " _I'm sweepy._ " She said, with her usual mispronunciation. She then gestured to Escanor that she wanted to be carried. This led to the sin of pride, although uncomfortable with the situation, picking up the young princess and watching her fall asleep in his arms.

 **Escanor** : " _There, there, you can sleep here if you'd like. I'll carry you back to Liones and keep you safe._ " he said. Escanor then realized that they might be attacked if they remained in the abandoned village and quickly suggested that they leave, not looking forward to having a fight with more monkeys.

 **Escanor** : " _I know that you are all relieved to be alive, but, I must insist we leave before we get into any trouble. Not to mention those monkeys might come back._ " He said, which reminded the children of what had just happened and immediately sent sirens through their heads.

 **Gil** : " _Yeah, I suppose we shouldn't keep the king waiting_." he said, laughing nervously as he picked Hauser off the ground. They both walked towards Escanor as they waited for the remaining kids.

 **Veronica** : " _Oh, right, my dad is probably looking for us… yeah, we'd better hurry._ " She stated, agreeing with Escanor's statement to leave and quickly hurried towards Griamore, demanding he move of which he did. They both joined the party and walked off towards Liones.

* * *

 **Liones Eastern Gate**

The group eventually reached the eastern gate of the kingdom and, as it was opened, were greeted by the king. To his surprise the group consisted of the most unlikely individuals, as they were children, and he thanked each of the misfits individually. Veronica pushed passed the boys and hugged her father. He hugged her rather tightly, to which she commented on and he loosened his grip. He then wondered where Elizabeth was, until he noticed Escanor standing to the side of him. Thoughts raced through his mind, similar to what happened earlier with the misfits.

 **Bartras** : " _Take Sir Escanor to his room immediately and make sure he doesn't leave this time._ " He said, scared that the most dangerous man alive was standing in the vicinity of himself and his daughters. Which then reminded him that Elizabeth had not ran up and hugged him yet.

 **Escanor** : " _I will go back to my room without force, but, before that you may wish to take your daughter. She fell asleep in my arms._ " He said, walking in front of the king and gesturing for him to take Elizabeth. He did so quickly and the sin of pride was removed from the gate towards his jail cell.

 **Bartras** : " _What were you thinking bringing him along? What if he killed you all?_ " he yelled, scolding the three misfits.

Gil: " _We're sorry your highness… but, that was the only way we could go save the princesses. Nobody else would come and help us. Not to mention if we hadn't had him with us we'd all be dead anyway._ " He declared, showing his regret, but also standing up to the king's judgment of the sin of pride. The king looked displeased with the situation regardless of Gilthunder's explanation. However, he became convinced that the children were right when Elizabeth woke up.

 **Elizabeth** : " _Escwanor? Oh, daddy! Where is Escwanor?_ _I wanted to sway thank you._ " she asked. The king looked shocked that Elizabeth would take a liking to Escanor, given his usual personality. He knew that Elizabeth was fond of those with pure hearts, and seeing how in such a short amount of time she had grown to like Escanor, gave the king a different perspective of how to envision the Lion's sin of Pride. He was thankful that his daughters returned safely and decided to organize a banquet and party for the misfits.

* * *

 **The Party**

The others all went back to the castle to receive a more substantial reward. They were all given a slight promotion, in which they be classified as future holy knights, as a pose to knights in-training. After the award ceremony, Hauser returned home with his father, Griamore fell asleep and Dreyfus left with him and Gilthunder stayed up and was looking for Margaret. The sweet princess was waiting for him outside on a small bannister and had dressed to please for this special occasion. She had promised him something before he left and was reluctant on giving it to him.

 **Gil** : _"Princess Margaret, I've been looking for you…_ " he said, running up towards her.

 **Margaret** : " _Gilthunder, I've been expecting you._ " She stated, blushing and turning to face the sky.

 **Gil** : " _I wanted to talk about something with you… it's kind of private, do you want to go somewhere else?_ " he asked, looking around and noticing her unwillingness to move. Suddenly they both heard a large thud, as the door behind them was shut. This gave them their moment of privacy. Walking away from the door was Meliodas, who quickly noticed the future couple to be.

 **Meliodas** : " _You owe me one, lil'Gil._ " He said, laughing to himself and grabbing another beer. He, Ban, Diane, King and Zaratras then prepared for a drinking game.

 **Gil** : " _I just wanted to confess that… I lo-_ " he stammered, but, was cut off by a sudden kiss on the lips. His face went bright red as he processed what was happening and grabbed Margaret's arms and returned her advances. They kissed for a solid minute before they both retracted to breath. As the stepped back Gilthunder heard Margaret say something that would change his life forever.

 **Margaret** : " _I love you too, Gil._ " She said, blushing and covering her face with her hands.

 **Gil** : "You really know your stuff, sir Escanor…" he whispered. Realizing that the sin of Pride knew this would happen all along. The two embraced each other with a passionate hug and continued to spend the night together as they stared at the starry night. The only thing keeping them awake being their heart-warming feelings for one another and the bright glow of moonlight.

* * *

 **Escanor's cell**

Below Liones Castle, where the three misfits found him, the sin of pride had been reunited with his isolated cell. The moon was shining through a crack in the wall and the sin of pride was reading a book. He was startled when someone opened his cell and began talking to him though. It was Merlin and she wanted to know a few things before the end of the night.

 **Merlin** : " _How are you doing Escanor?_ " she asked.

 **Escanor** : " _I'm doing fine, this book is quite a good read_." He stated.

 **Merlin** : " _We passed by an incredibly large mess when we were returning from our mission. You were clearly involved in that mess, but, who did you kill?_ " she asked, wanting to know more about what happened earlier.

 **Escanor** : " _I killed three giants, one being the eastern warrior chief and 200 bandits, including their leader._ " He responded as he turned the page of his book.

 **Merlin** : " _What type of magic did the warrior chief use to make such a large mountain like structure?_ " she asked. She needed to know this for her magical studies and was more than happy to hear about it.

 **Escanor** : " _Gaia's wrath, a type of creation magic that evolved, I think."_ He said, marking the page of his book, placing it on the table and giving Merlin his full attention.

 **Merlin** : " _Last question, why did you leave?_ " she asked, this was clearly the real reason she was here. Escanor smiled at her, looked her dead in the eyes and said

 **Escanor** : " _I just wanted some fresh air is all._ " He said, reaching for his book and watching, with one eye, as Merlin left the confines of his cell and cast another 'perfect cube'. He lay there until she left his sight… and began chuckling to himself.

 **Escanor** : " _I also wanted to help the kids… after all, I'm not a bad guy, I'm just incredibly picky about who I like._ " He said, laughing to himself as he returned to his story.

* * *

 **The End**

* * *

 **Thank you for reading my second story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as i did writing it... i hope this will be a small step towards me writing larger projects and perhaps even more complicated ones.  
**


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